Hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’

Late Panicle Hydrangea is trained to a single stem with a round head.  An upright, vigorous grower, the white flowers start to bloom in late August that are showy and which age to a lovely mauve pink.  The flower heads result in an elegant and airy floral display. This select variety is a personal favorite  because of its rounded shape and dense foliage. Strong stems support the weight of flowers so they do not hang down unlike other varieties of tree form hydrangeas. The Tardiva tree makes a great focal point in any landscape design. Tardiva is hardy in zones 4-9, prefers sun and can tolerate some filtered shade and are rare to be never fed on by Japanese beetles. The typical growth of this tree is 6 – 8 feet in height and 8 feet in width.

We have had this Tardiva Hydrangea in our garden here for more than ten years – and it delights us every fall.  One of the most important things that you need to do with all hydrangea trees, is to remove the spent blossoms in November.  The hydrangea tree branches are more brittle than most plants and if you do not prune off the spent blossoms, you will risk the snow, ice and frost of early winter to cling to these blossoms and weigh them down resulting in the breakage of a branch.  (Yes that happened to this hydrangea)

Brenda Cahalan of our retail staff contributed to this blog!  Thanks Brenda!